


How the Mikaelsons fell

by ExJamesx



Series: The Originals Drabbles [1]
Category: The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: BAMF Caroline Forbes, Caroline gives up with the mystic falls bullshit, Caroline is Team Originals, Caroline saves Klaus, F/M, Klaus meets Hope, Minor Stefan Salvatore / Valerie Tulle, Parent Klaus Mikaelson, and is really nervous about it, basically if Caroline was there for the fall of the Mikaelsons, i dont blame her
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:20:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27921430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExJamesx/pseuds/ExJamesx
Summary: After one too many life threatening experiences, Caroline cuts her losses and leaves Mystic Falls behind. A holiday was exactly what she needed. The fact that she ends up in New Orleans is purely coincidence and had absolutely nothing to do with a certain Original Hybrid.However, what she wasn't expecting was the Mikaelsons to be near death when she arrived.
Relationships: Caroline Forbes/Klaus Mikaelson
Series: The Originals Drabbles [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2049285
Comments: 9
Kudos: 119





	How the Mikaelsons fell

**Author's Note:**

> For future reference, all timelines will be mushed together however I want.

New Orleans was exactly what Caroline pictured it to be. Soft jazz filled the streets along with gentle laughter; it was not hard to see why Klaus loved the city so much. Red brick buildings that had more history than she could imagine, people unaware of the supernatural littering the streets and the supernatural themselves, content to let the world know of their abnormalities.

The blonde vampire was sitting out a cafe, basking in the moonlight and watching the world go by with a glass of lemonade sitting on the table in front of her. The night life of the city was truly something to marvel at, it seemed to give New York a run for its money in terms of activity after dark, but the evening was still young. Caroline was content to spend the night wandering the streets, gather her bearings in the beautiful city - that had absolutely nothing to do with the fact she hoped if she walked around long enough, she would bump into a member of the Mikaelson family.

Her plans were interrupted by the shrill sound of her phone ringing. The insistent sound had Caroline fighting the urge to toss her phone into a brick wall. Retrieving the device from her purse, she expected to see Elena, Bonnie or perhaps one of the Salvatore's name to pop up on her screen; begging her to return to the dull town of Mystic Falls.

Caroline paused when she saw the words Blocked ID flash up on her phone. Anyone she planned on talking to already had her number, so she pressed ignore and began to gather her belongings and move along. As the blonde rose from her chair, her phone rang again. Blocked ID. Whoever it was clearly was stubborn.

In pure annoyance, Caroline answered her phone, letting the person on the other end know just how irritated she was with her tone. "Hello?"

"Caroline! Oh, thank god!"

Caroline froze at the voice; one she recognised all too well and honestly hoped to never see again.

"Hayley? How the hell did you get my number?"

"Klaus’s phone. Listen I know you don't like me, and you have no reason to trust me, but I really need your help."

"And why should I?" Caroline huffed. Here was the woman who stole her boyfriend, snapped her neck and had a child with the man she was just beginning to like, asking for help.

"Because Klaus needs you." Caroline's blood ran cold, and her heart dropped to her shoes. Despite how hard she tried to hide it in Mystic Falls, she did care for him. 

"Where is he?" Her voice began to shake slightly, no matter how hard she tried to hide it.

"Do you know where the compound is?"  
↔  
Caroline slipped through the gates of the Mikaelson compound, going unnoticed by the rowdy hanging just outside. The interior of the building was mangled beyond repair, paintings and curtains shredded on the floor, the iron railings of the balcony above were dented in some places and broken in others. But that is not what caught Caroline's attention, her gaze was focused on the body lying unmoving on the floor, faint whimpers falling from his lips.

Klaus.

Caroline rushed forward to his side. Hayley had told her that his chances of being conscious were slim to none. The Hybrids eyes flickered to her own and pain and worry filled his expression.

"I'm sorry, I should've come sooner." She knew he could not reply, and it physically hurt her to know she would have to leave him here, alone. "I'm going to get you out, I promise."

Tears fell from her eyes and landed on his blood-stained jacket. Caroline could hear the blade slicing through his body, ripping his insides to shreds yet he barely made a sound. What a horrifying thought to have, he had lived through so much pain that he had become accustomed to suffering in silence.

"I'll help Hayley. I'll help Hayley and Hope and then I'll come back." Faint voices drifted through the building, moving closer and closer to where Caroline was crouching. As two figures entered the large courtyard, Caroline flashed to the rooftop and out of sight. She rushed forward and leapt over onto the building next door.

During Hayley's phone call, she explained briefly how the Mikaelsons had ended up in their current mess and the state of each of the siblings. Elijah and Kol both suffering from advanced vampire bites (Caroline did not miss the fondness in her voice when she mentioned Elijah), Freya (a Mikaelson whom Caroline had no idea existed) was poisoned and Rebekah - who Caroline was sent to fetch - was hexed.

The blonde original was collapsed against the sofa in an awkward position. Hefting her into her arms, Caroline rushed to the address Hayley gave her and met up with the hybrid and the unconscious originals. 

The apartment was in the same state as the compound: wrecked from god knows what.

Hayley was dumping a bloody suit on the ground, one that no doubt Elijah previously wore. If it were not for his shirt sleeve rolled up revealing his bite, Caroline would just assume he was sleeping. The same could not be said for Kol and Freya, clearly the hybrid had not got around to cleaning them up yet.

The brunette woman noticed the vampire’s presence as she moved to lay Rebekah on the sofa. 

"Thank you, Caroline."

Caroline nodded at the woman quietly. A silent truce seemed to have emerged between the pair, each had their own reasons for being there and that was enough for the other.

"So, where's the troublemaker I've heard too much about?" Caroline asked hopefully. She was doubtful Hayley trusted her that much but after what she had heard from Klaus and other rumours flying about, she was dying to meet the root of them all.

The hybrid leads her into another room, out of sight of the unconscious originals. In the crib was a happy child, flinging her toys about her with no clue as to what occurred just outside the doors. At the sight of Caroline, Hope gurgled happily and lifted her arms towards the blonde vampire. Caroline glanced at Hayley warily. "Can I?" 

She nodded and watched as Caroline lifted Hope into her arms, the child giggling in delight despite her drooping eyes; it had been a long day for everyone.

"I have coffins for them," Hayley began.

Caroline chuckled humourlessly. "In true Mikaelson fashion." She muttered.

Hayley cracked a half smile, "I need an hour or so to get them."

"In that case, I'll stay with them." She glanced to the door that separated the two from the originals, "And hope they don't wake up like creepy zombies."

Hayley chuckled again and noticed Hope's eyes shutting and not reopening. "She's sleeping, you'll be alright if she stays here, right?"

"Yeah, of course!"  
↔  
Hope was dreaming blissfully in her cot, not having noticed when Caroline placed her there a few minutes prior. The blonde vampire had avoided the other room and the Mikaelsons within for as long as she could by holding the young tribrid while she slept. But there was only so long she could ignore them. 

Just when I thought my life could get any crazier.

Rolling up her sleeves she retrieved a cloth and began to wipe away at the sweat that had gathered on Kol and Freya's faces. Freya had managed to avoid staining her clothes in blood as had Rebekah, Kol was not so lucky. As Caroline busied herself finding a clean shirt for him, she wondered how her life had become even more hectic than usual; just 24 hours ago she was in Mystic Falls, pretending to enjoy what the small town had to offer.

She smiled when she realised Klaus had pinpointed her wants exactly. Mystic Falls was not the same place it was, yet even if the town resembled normal she still would have fled. 

Caroline had just finished fixing Kol's shirt when the lift dinged, signalling Hayley's return. Hayley retrieved Hope from her cot and collected her toys into a bag, taking the sleeping toddler down to whatever vehicle Hayley had managed to snatch for them.

When the Hybrid return she hoisted Elijah into her arms, Caroline moving to do the same with Rebekah. "If we were in any other situation I would consider this almost funny." She mused and gestured to the hybrid carrying the suited original whose body was clearly larger than her own.

Upon exiting the building, Caroline was only slightly shocked at the empty street. Before her arrival it had been packed and she had had to leap over rooftops to remain undetected - which was rather difficult whilst carrying an unconscious original.

Hayley swiftly moved to the back of a large moving van. The back was open, showing Caroline the four coffins that lay inside. Hayley gently lay Elijah in the furthest coffin, Caroline placing Rebekah in the next one.

The two flashed back to the lift to take them up to the apartment. The ride up seemed unbearably long; awkward tension filled the air.

"You got here really fast. Were you already in New Orleans?" Hayley asked. Caroline huffed at the question; she did not particularly feel like telling Hayley her reasons for coming to the city. "Okay, then how about I'm sorry for snapping your neck." 

Caroline laughed lightly at the statement, Hayley joining in a second later. The lift doors opened revealing the messy apartment. Caroline was slightly relieved that 

Freya and Kol were still sitting in their seats and not wandering around like a scene from a horror movie. 

"Why did you agree to help me?"

Caroline sighed again, "Because of Klaus. I was in the city for Klaus and I'm helping you for him."

"So, you finally escaped the hellish Mystic Falls and admitted you like him?"

"Yes, I did."  
↔  
Over the next five years Hayley and Caroline scoured the globe for cures to the Mikaelsons. Rebekah had been the easiest and first to be cured. 

The sound of a car pulling up at the gate had Caroline rushing outside to greet the newcomer.

"You know it's not everyday Caroline Forbes calls me to ask for a favour." A British accent filled the air and Caroline sighed in relief that the heretic had actually come.

"Valerie, thank you. I really need your help."

"Yeah well, what else is new." The women chuckled lightly. "Something about a curse needing siphoning?"

"Yes! Follow me." 

Caroline led the blonde heretic to the loft of the house. Hayley and Hope had settled into the house not long ago. They had realised that Hope should not have her childhood spent on the road. Caroline, however, did not move in with them. She spent her time searching for the seven packs for their venom and scouring for witches who knew anything about Freya's poison. She visited often; Hope was always ecstatic to see her.

"So, how's Stefan?" Stefan was the only one in Mystic Falls who Caroline kept in constant contact with and therefore by extension, Valerie. Despite the fact they were ex's, Caroline and Stefan had no awkwardness between them, the breakup was mutual as they realised they were both interested in other people, Valerie and Klaus.

The heretic had just finished her story about her and Stefan's recent visit to Europe when they reached the loft. Caroline vaulted up and shuffled through the space to Rebekah's coffin. She lifted the lid and crouched down beside the original, pulling up her sleeve to reveal the mark of the hex.

"Oh, that is a nasty one." Valerie commented, "You know, there was a time when I was tempted to use this one on you."

"Gee, thanks. Can you siphon it?"

Valerie knelt beside the coffin and took Rebekah's hand. A red glow surrounded their joint hands for a second before the mark on the original's wrist began to fade. Valerie released her hand when the mark faded entirely, and Caroline's shoulders slumped in relief.

"Well, if that's all I really must be going." Valerie began shifting towards the stairs.

"Actually," Caroline said causing the heretic to pause, "Do you know anything about this poison." Caroline closed Rebekah's coffin and lifted the lid to Freya's. "I've spent years looking but I figured, you were a Gemini so...."

Valerie inspected the wound on Freya's neck closely.

"Actually, I do."  
↔  
Thanks to the information given by Valerie, Caroline was able to find an antidote and Freya was the second of the Mikaelsons to be cured of their various illnesses. Curing Kol and Elijah was proving to be the most difficult and the most time consuming. 

Six of the venoms had been collected by Hayley but the seventh was proving to be the hardest to track down. That was until Jackson's grandmother Mary found a lead to the last remaining member of the Monroe pack.

It was the evening before Hayley was going to leave for Texas when Caroline decided to bring up the plan that would surely bring her a scolding from the hybrid.

"Okay so please wait until the end to scream at me, but I'm going to get Klaus tomorrow." Hayley's eyes instantly went wide, and she made a move to interrupt the blonde vampire.

"Hang on! I have a reason. If the whole Mikaelson clan goes in guns blazing then any witch within a ten-mile radius would sense it. No one will care if a single baby vampire rolls into town."

"Okay, and how will you get him out? There's going to be at least a spell keeping him in."

"Before Valerie left I asked her to cast a spell," Caroline lifted a small glass vial of what appeared to be black dust in the air. "This is a form of disruption spell; it'll lift the barrier on wherever he's being kept long enough for me to get him out. We will use the tunnels underneath the city to get to the bayou where I will have car waiting. Trust me, I've been planning this ever since I started helping you."

Hayley was stunned into silence. Caroline truly cared for Klaus and was potentially putting her life on the line to save him.

"Okay. But if you are not back here in two days, the cavalry will be coming."

Caroline sighed in relief and broke into a smile. She had been over this plan millions of times, there was no doubt in her mind that this would go off perfectly.  
↔  
The Mikaelsons sat or stood in various places, surrounded by the dead bodies of the prisoners they had slaughtered. 

Kol emerged from the woods with blood stained down the front of his shirt. The rest of the present originals were in a similar state, blood seeping into the fabric of their clothes. Freya stepped off the bus that had previously held the prisoners.

"I've been trying to cast a locator spell but it's being blocked."

The vampires in the clearing all had expressions of ranging disappointment, all except for Hayley. The hybrid looked between all of the Mikaelsons in mild confusion. "Why would you need to cast a locator spell?"

"To find Klaus. He's somewhere in New Orleans but the specifics are blurred."

"We don't need to find him; I know where he is."

The Originals all stood to attention, turning to Hayley. "Well then why the bloody hell haven't we gone to get him yet?" Rebekah snapped.

"Because if I'm right then he's already out. An old friend of ours went to get him yesterday and she's got plenty of motivation to get him out alive."

The Originals all looked at each other in varying states of confusion, except for Elijah - who had somehow put the puzzle together - who smirked to himself.

Klaus was going to be very happy with his rescuer.  
↔  
Upon arriving at the massive storm drain Caroline would be venturing into, Caroline stopped the car a little way up the track; hidden by the bushes to anyone who rushed past. 

She approached the tunnel and looked into the abyss with only mild disgust. It would be a quick journey to the compound as she could use vamp speed, however on the way back, it was doubtful Klaus would be strong enough to move that fast even with the blood bag she had brought with her. 

Putting the blood, disruption spell and a torch into the small bag she had brought (the torch was not necessary, but it would be preferable to have some light rather that wandering down a dark drain), Caroline began moving into the dark. After a minute or so of vamp speeding, Caroline came to a trapdoor of sorts that she knew would lead to the basement of the Mikaelson compound. 

Pushing the metal door open, Caroline clambered into the dark and damp basement of the compound. Just like the rest of the building, it was wrecked.

After a few seconds of scouring around, she found Klaus, surrounded by a circle of salt - a spell - and whimpering in pain. Caroline rushed to the boundary of the spell, careful not to run right into it. She hurriedly reached into her bag, careful to remain as quiet as possible, and retrieved the black dust in its vial.

She was careful to spread the dust evenly on top of the salt around the circle, not noticing Klaus's eyes following her with every step. She only hesitated for a second, waiting for Valerie's spell to take effect, before gripping Klaus's arm and pulling him out of the circle.

The Hybrid's eyes followed her every move, watching as her eyes filled with sympathy and guilt. "This is going to hurt."

The blonde vampire dug her hand into Klaus's chest, reaching for the blade that was causing his suffering. The moment the blade brushed against her fingertips, she pulled it from his body, stashing it in her bag and retrieving the blood bag. Caroline held it for him until he was able to weakly lift his arm and hold it himself.

The moment the blood bag was drained, Caroline tossed it aside and pulled Klaus to his feet. 

"Caroline..." He mumbled weakly. 

"Shh, we have to get you out the city."

With one of his arms slung over her shoulders and both of hers around his torso, they began trekking down the dingy drain out to the Bayou.

Once surrounded by trees and greenery, Caroline practically shoved Klaus into her car and rushed around the other side. She sped through the woods, buzzing to put as many miles between them and New Orleans as possible.

"Caroline." He mumbled again. 

"I told you I'd come back"  
↔  
Klaus had slumped down in his seat less than twenty minutes after the beginning of their journey. The seatbelt – that caused Caroline to nearly strangle him in attempts to get him to wear it – was pressed against his cheek. It was cute, a word which can not be used often when referring to the evil Klaus Mikaelson and a word that only Caroline seemed to be able to use.

The greenery of the Bayou rushed past the windows as they travelled further and further away from the dark, damp basement that held Klaus prisoner for the past five years. Closer and closer to his daughter, a daughter who does not even remember his face; only the stories her mother and honorary aunt would tell her when she struggled to sleep at nights.

As Caroline drove, she could not but help wonder what would happen once the Mikaelsons were awake and reunited, it was doubtful that any of them – excluding Klaus, Hayley and Hope – would accept her. However, after five years of desperately trying to save the oldest family on earth, anything else she may do with her immortality seemed mundane in comparison.  
↔  
Freya fidgeted in her seat. The Range Rover that held each of the Mikaelson siblings plus Hayley was seething in mixed emotions. Kol, Rebekah and Freya sat in the back seat, Freya being subjected to the middle and therefore in the centre of Kol and Rebekah bickering every five miles.

Kol and Rebekah seemed not to care that the safety of their brother was in the hands of a baby vampire; they had seen the way each of them looked at each other. Klaus would be fine. Elijah held a similar sentiment, however as always there was small doubts lurking in his mind. Would a young vampire, only in her twenties, be able to break in and out of a prison built to hold a thousand-year-old hybrid? At least she had the proper motivation.

Freya, however, was stewing in her paranoia. She was the only one to have not met Caroline and therefore had no sense of her character. She had no trust for the blonde vampire and yet the rest of her family seemed to believe in her implicitly. It was entirely possible that they would arrive to the house and neither Klaus nor this Caroline would be there. That was only one of the scenarios Freya had come up with in the twenty minutes they had been in the car.

“Am I the only one a little hesitant on this plan? This woman hasn’t talked to Klaus in years and all of a sudden she’s saving him from Marcel?”

Hayley huffed quietly in the driver’s seat. Despite how much she really wanted to, she could not fix Freya with a glare at present time; they could all survive a car crash, but whilst on the highway there would be too many witnesses to walk away unscathed and they did not have time to compel any emergency services that may be called.

“Oh, do relax Freya. Those two were smitten for each other back in Mystic Falls, our brother will be fine.” Kol said cheerfully, swinging an arm over Freya’s shoulder and almost hitting Rebekah in the head.

“Why should we have any reason to believe that she’ll help him. He wasn’t exactly liked in Mystic Falls?”

Elijah shifted in his seat, glancing back at Freya in the rear-view mirror and focusing on her with a stern look – despite the fact he was no longer the oldest, he still acted like it. “Freya, I understand that you may not exactly trust Miss Forbes,”

Kol and Rebekah scoffed lightly under their breathes, Freya had been very vocal about it. 

“But Klaus did. So, I ask that have faith in her.” Freya still looked unsatisfied. “Fine. If Niklaus and Miss Forbes are not back by Sundown tomorrow then we shall seek them out ourselves.”

Hayley’s hands tightened on the wheel. “I get that you guys have been a mystical sleep and have missed a lot, but Caroline didn’t just show up today to help us. She was in New Orleans that night, I’m willing to bet she arrived before sundown, before…” Before Kol and Elijah were bitten, before Freya was poisoned, before Rebekah went mad.

Before Klaus was put on trial and imprisoned in the basement of the compound.

“She didn’t hesitate to help and Hope. She has been here while you guys haven’t. I don’t care that you may not trust her, because I do. So, shut up and deal with it, we’re only twenty minutes in, I’m not dealing with this for another three hours.”  
↔  
It was well past sundown when Klaus and Caroline arrived back at the house. Caroline suspected that Hayley had stopped at a motel for the night – after all, Hayley called and said Freya had woken up and was fixing a cure before Caroline had even reached Klaus. She truly doubted that Hayley would arrive at the house with four Mikaelsons in tow at this time of night. 

Looking over, Caroline smiled a little at the sight of Klaus still sleeping in the passenger seat, he was completely comatose before Caroline could suggest he lay on the back seat. She switched off the engine as Mary emerged from the front door. Caroline exited the car, closing the door quietly so that both Klaus and Hope – who was most likely knocked out in her room as well – could continue to sleep.

“Can’t say I’m happy to see him.”

“Yes, Mary we know you hate him, however, since he’s here and not leaving…”

Mary seemed to take the hint after that, not that she would have stayed much longer anyway. Klaus was the person she hated most in the world.

As the sound of Mary’s truck faded into the night Caroline opened the passenger door and gently nudged Klaus on the shoulder. When she managed to wake him, he was still weak and drowsy, clearly that one blood bag did not do much.

Supporting his right side, she hauled him out of the car and almost dragged him into the house. She laid him down on one of the many spare beds within the house and went to retrieve more blood bags. As she was passing Hope’s room, she heard a hitched breath, barefoot steps and the creak of someone jumping back into bed. 

Caroline almost scolded herself. Of course, Hope would be awake, herself and Hayley had told her that they were bringing home her family. What little girl would want to miss the arrival of her family whom she had not seen in years. 

Caroline opened the door just enough to poke her head inside. Hope was in bed, the duvet pulled up to her chin and her eyes tightly squeezed shut. “In a house of vamp hearing, you should be better at sneaking out of bed.”

Hope sighed and opened her eyes, she knew she would be caught, she could only hope that Caroline would ignore her being out of bed so late. No such luck.

“Is he here?” She asked with hope in her eyes. Caroline glanced back out into the hallway and at the closed door next to the one she was currently standing in. 

“Give me a couple minutes and I’ll see if he’s still awake. Okay?”

Hope grinned, eager to see her dad. Caroline shut the door and sped down to the kitchen, retrieving blood bags from the cooler and rushing back up to Klaus’s room. He was still half asleep but conscious enough to gulp down the red liquid.

“Hope’s awake.” He froze, the empty blood bag in his hand dropped onto the bed and his droopy eyes went wide. “She wants to see you.” 

His face drained of colour ever so slightly and his heartbeat sped up. That was not the reaction that Caroline was hoping for. “I’ll tell her that you’re asleep.”

Caroline stood from the bed. Convincing Hope to go back to sleep would be painful, the little girl was so excited to meet her dad again; however, he was in no state to deal with an energetic seven-year-old as of that moment. 

Caroline was approaching the door when she heard a weak voice, “Wait,” the blonde turned to see Klaus half sat up in the bed, his eyes almost pleading with her. “I want to see her.”

Caroline sighed. If he were anyone else she would be able to resist his almost puppy-eyed expression – but he was not, and she could not. “Fine, I’ll go get her. Drink.” She said firmly, pointing to the final blood bag on the bed. His grin was almost worth having to settle down a hyperactive Tribrid later; she almost groaned at the thought.

When Caroline approached Hope’s room, she could hear the young girl inside. She was sat right by the door, no doubt waiting for Caroline’s return. The vampire knocked on the door, giving Hope a fair warning to move away from the door. When Caroline was sure that she had scurried far enough away, she opened the door fully and watched as Hope clambered to her feet – teddy bear still clutched in her hand – and stood tense, waiting for the verdict. 

“He’s awake.” Hope squealed loudly and ran for the door, only to stop when she realised Caroline was still blocking the door.

“Can I see him? Pretty please!”

Caroline chuckled, “You can. But you need to be careful, he’s still very weak. So, no jumping on him, okay?”

Hope nodded enthusiastically, shuffling from foot to foot.

“Come on then.” Caroline reached for her hand and lead her down to the next door down. Hope was practically buzzing with energy and Caroline was beginning to regret saying yes to this plan. She opened the door and saw Klaus, sat up and looking at the door anxiously. His eyes widened when he saw them enter the room and went very still. 

Caroline led Hope over to the bed and let her sit down whilst she stood back. “Hope, this is your dad.”

The room was very silent for about two seconds, then Hope pounced. She jumped to her knees and wrapped her arms around Klaus’ neck, hugging him as tightly as she could. “I missed you. Like a lot.”

Caroline was about to gently rest her hand on Hope’s shoulder, this was exactly what she asked her not to do. However, she paused when she saw Klaus relax and return the hug, a smile on his face. 

Feeling like she was interrupting a special moment, she made an excuse – I’ll go make some hot chocolate – and let the father and daughter reunite without her hovering. 

Caroline took her time making the drinks – letting the water boil longer than necessary, stirring in the powder slowly, lingering in the kitchen. She laced hers and Klaus’ with a small amount of blood (He still looked weak despite the blood he’d already consumed) and balanced all three mugs on a tray with an unopened packet of chocolate biscuits.

She was definitely going to regret giving Hope so much chocolate when it came to putting her to sleep later on.

She made plenty of noise when climbing the stairs, letting Klaus and Hope know she was on her way back. Hope was standing in the door, holding it open for her, when she reached the hallway. 

Caroline placed the tray on the bed and handed out the mugs of hot chocolate and divvied up the packet of biscuits. Hope began munching happily, chatting between mouthfuls of chocolate, telling stories of all Klaus had missed in the five years he had been gone. Klaus was smiling happily, something that did not happen often, all his attention on his daughter, how she waved her arms around when telling exciting details. That caused more than a few spills of hot chocolate on the duvet, but the young girl was so happy, Caroline could not find it in her to mention it. 

It must have been at least an hour when Hope’s eyes finally began to droop. Caroline collected the now empty mugs and biscuit wrapper onto the tray and brushed the leftover crumbs on the bed. 

“Come on, Hope. Bedtime.” 

“No! I don’t want to go to sleep.” The Tribrid sat up and tried to insist she was not tired; despite the face her eyes were slipping shut. Caroline lifted the tray and nodded towards Hope, who was back to lying down, slowly slipping unconscious.

“You got her?”

Klaus hesitantly stood and lifted Hope into his arms, the girl curling closer to him. He followed Caroline out of the room and stopped when she pointed at the next door down. “That one’s hers.”

She opened the door for them and promptly left to put the tray in the kitchen, leaving Klaus holding Hope in the middle of a bright yellow room. Many drawings littered the walls, ranging from stick figures into detailed drawings of the animals and plants that most likely lived in the surrounding area. 

He tucked Hope into bed and was about to leave when she grabbed his hand. 

“Don’t go yet. Please?” She pleaded. Klaus perched on the edge of the bed and wracked his brains for what to say. He had not seen her in five years and despite the fact they had been home for hours, she had been the one talking. 

“Okay, but only for a little while. Your mother and Caroline won’t be happy if you stay up all night.” 

Hope giggled and buried further under her duvet. Klaus was aware of Caroline coming back up the stairs, no doubt to call lights out. 

“Can you tell me a story?” His attention was brought back to Hope once again. She was looking at him with hopeful eyes, no doubt looking for reasons to stay awake just a little longer. 

“Okay, little wolf. But lights out right after, okay?” 

She nodded.

“Once upon a time, there was a wolf king…”

**Author's Note:**

> The amount of times I misspelt Hope as Hoe is slightly embarrassing.


End file.
